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Born
21 Dec. 1834
in the
Rose and Crown tavern
,
Trecynon
,
Aberdare
, the son of
JohnJones
,
engineer
at the
Llwydcoed iron-works
,
Aberdare
. He was
apprenticed to a smith
.

He showed an early interest in music and became a competent
violinist
. When he was 19 he took a choir to an eisteddfod at
Aberafan
, the test piece being ‘
Hallelujah to the Father
’ (
Beethoven
). As the name of the choir which was successful was entered as ‘
Côr Caradog
’ the
conductor
was henceforth known as ‘
Caradog
.’ In
1858
he was appointed
conductor
of the
Aberdare United Choir
, and it was his work in this capacity which made him famous, the choir taking the chief prize at eisteddfodau over many years. In
1870
he moved to
Treorchy
in the
Rhondda valley
where he
formed a male voice choir
. In
1872
a choir was formed to compete at the
Crystal Palace
,
London
, and
Caradog
was chosen as
conductor
. His choir numbered 456, the members coming from various districts in
South Wales
. The contest, which took place on
10 July 1872
, was won by ‘
Côr Caradog
,’ one of the competitors being a
London
choir led by
JosephProudman
. Later the choir sang before the
prince
and
princess of Wales
. After the dissolution of the ‘
Côr Mawr
,’ as it became affectionately known,
Caradogformed a choir
in
Treorchy
to perform the works of some of the masters.

He moved from
Treorchy
to
Llanybyther, Carms.
; thence he went to
Cardiff
, and from
Cardiff
to
Pontypridd
, where he d.
4 Dec. 1897
; he was buried in the
Aberdare
cemetery. After the funeral it was decided to organize a public subscription to provide a suitable gravestone; a statue of him, the work of
SirWilliam GoscombeJohn
, was afterwards placed on the square at
Aberdare
.